POWER February 2017 - 13

4. Fusion star. Construction of South Korea's KSTAR superconducting tokamak began in
December 1995 and was completed in August 2007. Researchers at the National Fusion Research
Institute (NFRI) have been conducting a variety of experiments and tests on the reactor
in four planned phases that are expected to culminate in the development of nuclear fusion
reactor technologies. Courtesy: NFRI
delstein 7-X stellerator, a device that is
producing
three-dimensional magnetic
fields as predicted. The most-watched
project, however, is ITER in southern
France, a large tokamak experiment led
by an international effort that seeks to
produce roughly 500 MW of thermal energy
using deuterium and tritium fusion
fuels. In November, the ITER Council
endorsed a schedule that projects first
plasma will be achieved in 2025 and deuterium-tritium
operation by 2035.
New Solar Roads Unveiled
Solar roadways-roads that incorporate embedded
photovoltaic cells-have piqued interest
for several years. A few examples are
finally being rolled out, though their practical
applications are still being evaluated.
On December 20, global transport infrapower
consumption of approximately 1
GWh/year which corresponds to about 25
percent in total savings, " the company
said in December.
Over the same time, it also installed
new biogas engines in its combined heat
and power plant, which ramped up power
production by about 1 GWh/year. A new
heat exchanger enabled it to increase heat
by 2 GWh/year, allowing it to sell surplus
heat to the district heating grid.
South Korea Reports
Fusion Research Progress
A superconducting tokamak at the National
Fusion Research Institute (NFRI) in South
Korea has achieved a world record of more
than 70 seconds in high-performance
plasma operation. Researchers hailed the
achievement as a " huge step forward for
the realization of fusion power. "
According to NFRI, researchers used a
fully non-inductive operation mode-a
" high poloidal beta scenario " -to achieve
the long and steady-state operation at the
experimental KSTAR tokamak (Figure 4).
They also used a high-power neutral beam
and various other techniques to alleviate
the accumulated heat fluxes on plasmafacing
components.
While research to harness fusion power-energy
that is generated by the fusion
of two lighter atomic nuclei (typically
hydrogen) to form a heavier nucleus-was
revived in the 1970s following a breakthrough
at a Soviet tokamak, the cost and
complexity of projects has tempered advancements.
Foremost
among technical challenges is
February 2017 | POWER
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13
controlling plasma, a fourth state of matter
that is produced by heating a gas to
several million degrees. As some researchers
describe it, plasma can be compared to
a " soup, " where nuclei and electrons are
no longer linked and move around freely.
When two " light " nuclei collide at high
speed, they can fuse, forming a heavier
nucleus and releasing energy as a result
of the fusion. But controlling plasma operation
in a steady state has proven challenging.
That's why KSTAR's steady-state
plasma operation for more than a minute
is significant.
According to NFRI, about 15 fusion
devices exist around the world, with research
underway in the European Union,
the U.S., Russia, Japan, China, and South
Korea. Most are conventional tokamaks,
though much research has been carried
out on stellarators, similar devices
that use a different approach to plasma
containment. At the end of 2015, for
example, Germany switched on the Wenstructure
group Colas completed installing
a solar panel paving system it calls
" Wattway " (Figure 5) over 50 square meters
(m2
) at the Georgia Visitor Information
Center in West Point, Ga. Two days later, it
completed a 1-kilometer stretch running
through the small town of Tourouvre-auPerche
in France's Normandy region.
The bigger
project
in
France covers
about 2,800 m2 and is connected to the
Enedis electricity distribution network.
The €5 million project was financed by the
French Ministry of the Environment, which
said the road will allow for the evaluation
of construction techniques for solar roads
at a large scale and of the technology's
durability and energy efficiency. While
more details will emerge during its twoyear
test period, the roadway is expected
to produce 280 MWh annually.
" The daily production will fluctuate according
to weather and seasons, " Colas
noted. " On average, the estimated electrical
output will reach 767 kWh per day,
with peaks up to 1,500 kWh per day in
summer. " An information panel installed
5. The road to a solar future? The Wattway photovoltaic panels used to pave experimental
roads in the U.S. and France are covered with a resin containing fine sheets of silicon,
making them sturdy enough for all traffic. Courtesy: Colas

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POWER February 2017

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